About: Georgina is a natural in the kitchen. She loves experimenting with new recipes, often figuring out ways to make them healthier, as well as crafting and just generally living a happy life. When she started her blog four years ago, it was for a long time only read by her mother. Now, it’s a huge part of Georgina’s life and features all sorts of yummy recipes, tips for finding happiness and wellness, beauty and crafts. Georgina’s also a very visual person, so you’ll find no shortage of photos to tell the story in an even more vibrant way.

One of the biggest mistakes women make when trying to figure out how to lose belly fat: too many crunches, too little cardio. No matter how toned your abs are, your belly won't look flat until you get rid of the layer of fat on top of them, says Jessica Smith, a certified personal trainer and star of fitness DVDs. For that, you need to rev your calorie burn. Interval training, in which you alternate high-intensity bursts of activity with easier bouts, has been shown to zap more belly fat than steady-paced moderate workouts.

Hi Adam, I was searching for a source that would help me lose 40 pounds in two months and pretty much you had a similar story to me. I find it so hard and frustrating finding a diet that works for me and I weigh 195. I’m a singer and a performer and its really uncomfortable with all this weight on me and I need to lose 40 pounds by the summer of july. I sincerely need help and from what I see, I feel you can help. If you can please email me it’ll be well appreciated.
I started my this lifestyle on Monday, August 7th. I haven’t lost any weight and it’s day 5 and I am a bit discourage. I am a bit discouraged because a friend of mine embarked on this same journey two weeks ahead of me and she is down 10lbs. I think that one of the things that I have to stop doing is lifting heavy weights. I train 4 days per week .What are your thoughts on this? I’ve had the hardest time loosing weight and I have to trust this process because I know it will work. It going into my second week and I am going to follow a beginners Keto meal plan for structure and optimization of my weight loss. Any feedback you can provide would be awesome.
Hey Adam, I am 37years old my height is 5ft 3 inches and my weight is 64 kg I want to reduce 10kg weight I want to ask you that what kind of vegetables can we eat in this diet?.can we eat salad cucumber , cabbage etc how much calories I have to take in a day?I have heard that one should eat something after 2 or 3 hours to boost the metabolic rate is it right? Plz answer….

The upshot of all these chemicals floating around is big trouble for big-bellied guys. In a study at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, researchers took 137 men of all ages and sizes and used seven different measurements to determine their risks of cardiovascular disease. The single best sign of multiple heart-disease risks? No, it wasn't the guys' family histories or their cholesterol profiles. It was the amount of abdominal fat they carried.

To encourage ketone production, the amount of insulin in your bloodstream must be low. The lower your insulin, the higher your ketone production. And when you have a well-controlled, sufficiently large amount of ketones in your blood, it’s basically proof that your insulin is very low – and therefore, that you’re enjoying the maximum effect of your low-carbohydrate diet. That’s what’s called optimal ketosis.

While you could lose weight and body fat by dieting alone, adding exercise will result in a better body composition after you're finished losing weight. It also appears that weight lost through exercise may be more likely to come from your belly fat than weight lost through diet alone, according to a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Weight loss, the rate of weight loss, and patterns of weight loss tend to vary from person to person and can even vary within the same person when comparing to previous weight loss attempts. Many people experience steady weight loss for quite a while, followed by periods of weight stability, and it may not be a true weight loss plateau. Just look at the 1 year data from our clinical trial—the average patient experienced 9 months of rapid weight loss and 3 months of weight stability (Hallberg 2018), while following the same nutritional approach for the entire year. Over time, most people who sustain a low carb or ketogenic diet find a new stable weight after a period of significant weight loss.

About: Helen’s a sweet and simple kind of girl. She’s a runner in mid-life whose goal is to live healthy while mixing in a bit of adventure too. But what really makes her blog special is the number of delicious, healthy recipes she has developed along the way. They’re easy to follow and loaded with pics. And although Helen does sometimes take long breaks between posts, when she does do an update, they're among the most well-read on her blog.

Hi Joan… Thank you so much for your very thoughtful and loving reply – I am in tears… It’s really freeing to read what you wrote- about not going at this new plan so aggressively. I was reading other blogs about being so strict with everything right off the bat. I think that this is why many fail & go back to their old eating habits – they feel that they can’t maintain it – it’s too hard. Having done that Nutrimost plan – this Keto way is so much more flexible, and satisfying (love that butter). This is a entirely different way of eating, really a new way of life. We obviously LOVED those starches & sweets & relied on them much too much, or we wouldn’t be where we were. But – I also feel better already – without that logy, starchy fog, after 3 days. I will keep your reply as my inspiration, because it was written with compassion, for a complete stranger – me! It’s going to be a bit challenging, because I eat out a lot with my lady friends & church girls. It has taken me over a year to begin to come to terms with my husband’s passing, from being his much loved wife, a role I cherished so much, to suddenly being single & alone again. I am going for grief counseling thru a church group of wonderful gals, and I feel that this new way of eating is another piece of the puzzle God has given me, to give me a new purpose in life. I never thought I would say something like this. When I lost my beloved husband, I wanted to die with him. I never contemplated suicide but did not want to go on without him. He truly was my soul mate, my Prince Charming.. I don’t know how the afterlife works, but if the Lord allows, my wonderful husband is watching out for me – like he always did, cheering me on with all his love & support.
To find your spirit blog, think about what you want to get out of it, recommends Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., a certified weight management specialist and the blogger behind Jessica Cording Nutrition. If you want someone who is going through the same struggles you are, look for a blogger who's in the same stage of their weight-loss journey, suggests Cording. Need new healthy recipes? A nutritionist who posts her favorites might be your best bet.

Leah Campbell is a writer and editor living in Anchorage, Alaska. She’s a single mother by choice after a serendipitous series of events led to the adoption of her daughter. Leah is also the author of the book “Single Infertile Female” and has written extensively on the topics of infertility, adoption, and parenting. You can connect with Leah via Facebook, her website, and Twitter.

Over time, most people who sustain a ketogenic lifestyle stop losing weight and find a new stable weight (Hallberg 2018). This is achieved when their natural instincts of hunger and satiety lead to an increase in dietary fat intake to balance out one’s daily expenditure. But as long as dietary protein is kept moderate and carbs low, this dietary fat is used in place of body fat to produce ketones, so clearly nutritional ketosis can be maintained without any further weight loss. We have named this a ‘eucaloric ketogenic diet’ (Phinney 1983).
Can I comment on your endometriosis and weight loss? I am no expert, but what I found is that what helps is taking a probiotic to get your gut healed. I will kill the endometriosis and help you with loss. try a 15 strain probiotic. In south africa we have nature fresh that gives you a fresh probiotic per day and not expensive at all….just my piece of 5 cent…marli

A 2012 study also showed that people on a low-carb diet burned 300 more calories a day – while resting! According to one of the Harvard professors behind the study this advantage “would equal the number of calories typically burned in an hour of moderate-intensity physical activity”. Imagine that: an entire bonus hour of exercise every day, without actually exercising. A later, even larger and more carefully conducted study confirmed the effect, with different groups of people on low-carb diets burning an average of between 200 and almost 500 extra calories per day.

There's a reason you've been hearing so much about cutting meat out of your diet lately. It's not just great for your body, but also a quick way to shed some extra pounds. "Consider swapping a few meat-centric meals each week for ones centered around vegetarian proteins — or give a full-fledged vegetarian diet a try if that's of interest to you," Gorin says. "Research shows eating a vegetarian diet may boost and speed up weight loss, resulting in a loss of up to 10 pounds." Gorin recommends topping a salad or filling a veggie taco with vegetarian protein sources like pulses — which are beans, chickpeas, lentils, and dried peas — to give your weight loss a boost. One study found eating ¾ cup of pulses daily led to a loss of close to a pound over about six weeks, versus people not eating pulses daily.

Real talk: It could take weeks or months to see the metabolic effects of exercise on the scale, and even then, building muscle, which is denser than body fat, could lead to weight gain. "Do what you like because it’s good for you," Dr. Seltzer says, noting the way exercise is awesome for your heart, mental health, and more—and that not all measure of progress can be seen on the scale.
Break out the lemon wedges: Regular fish eaters tend to have lower levels of the hormone leptin — good because high levels of leptin have been linked to low metabolism and obesity, says Louis Aronne, M.D., an obesity specialist at the New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. Try to consume three to four servings of a fatty fish, such as salmon, tuna or mackerel, each week.

Thanks so much for sharing your story! I saw your Instagram post opening up this post for questions. My question is about your arms. How was the skin under your arm after losing the weight? Did you do any exercises to target that area? Your arms look great & it is giving me hope that if I can get some more weight off mine will continue to improve. Would love to know any secrets there!

I want you to know you can find inspiration through healthy perspectives. It’s not about weighing 100 pounds and eating kale every day. You don’t have to run 10 miles every morning. It’s about finding balance and enjoying the journey. It’s about filling your world with a balance of all things – fitness, nutrition, faith, friendships, and all things. It’s about focusing on a healthy lifestyle that works for you.

Research shows this intensity combo also makes you faster. In a 2013 study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers found that when cyclists performed six weeks of 80/20-style training, they more than doubled their power and performance gains, such as lactate threshold, compared to when they spent more time in moderate training zones.
When you want to turn your diet around, don’t focus on the idea of restriction, Zeratsky says. Instead, think about the foods you can eat and how you can manage your hunger. “Eat foods that are more filling and have more water, like fruits and veggies, which will help your stomach respond to the weight to food,” she says. Plus, they’re low-cal and you still need that calorie deficit to drop belly fat.
Not in an extreme, Atkins sort of way, but having a little protein at every meal fires up your metabolism. "Your digestive system uses more energy to break it down, so you burn more calories," explains Lisa Dorfman, R.D. However, keep protein levels to between 20 and 35 percent of your diet; eating too much of it can cause kidney strain and may cause your body to store too much fat.
Research shows your body also unleashes human growth hormone, which helps you burn fat and maintain muscle, after just 10 to 30 seconds of high-intensity exercise. High-intensity exercise also appears to help curb your appetite and trigger hormones that regulate feelings of hunger and fullness better than lower-intensity exercise, so you’re less likely to overeat.

Try storytelling and sharing personal insights. This is where you get to describe genuine stories that are taking place in your life (related to weight loss, obviously). People love stories, and it’s the ultimate way to prove that you are real. If people can relate to what you’re saying, they will surely pay attention. Make every post you publish personal to some degree.

Thank you. It’s easy to click through your blog looking at your gorgeous home, your perfect children and your beautiful skinny self. This is a wonderful reminder that we are all human! I have also lost 100 pounds and still have a way to go…. it was refreshing to be reminded not to take for granted that you know what struggles someone else has faced.
After the summer of hell on the treadmill, I started running outside and built my endurance. I bought myself a pair of good running shoes and used the MapMyRun app to track where I was going and how far I went. Some days of running were great and I could go for three miles and feel awesome the entire run, but then other days were so bad. I remember there were times I was in the middle of a run and wanted so bad to give up and I would have to walk for a little bit to give myself a break before running again. I remember sometimes I would get so discouraged that I would cry and call Alan to see if he could pick me up because I gave up on myself in the middle of a run. Again, I had to learn to give myself grace on the days when I didn’t do as well as I wanted because I knew that in terms of big-picture, I was slowly making progress. I trained my body to relate exercise as a way of relaxation.
Unfortunately, that balance can be hard to find when our ancient evolutionary responses just aren’t appropriate for the modern food environment. Especially for women who are already overweight, it’s entirely possible that the fat -> estrogen -> fat cycle can spiral out of control. Weight loss by itself approaches this problem from one angle (less fat means lower estrogen production), but specifically addressing estrogen might also be helpful.

Hi Adam, my name is lea. I’m 12 years old (7th grade) and i have been chubby since 2nd grade. I know that is difficult for a child to be on a diet but i am almost a teen and i think it’s time for me to start a little diet. The only problem is that i want to 8-10 ponds in 6 weeks! please help me, any suggestions. I have a batmitzvah coming up in december and i wanted it off by then. Please help!

Between his hilarious poetry, inspiring post-it notes, and top ten lists that make Letterman sound unoriginal, reading Jack Sh*T, Gettin' Fit can feel more like your daily dose of comedy than weight-loss advice. Of course you get that too, you're just laughing so hard you don't realize how good it is for you. Check out his post When Harry Met Salad to see what I mean.

"It’s easy to become impatient and frustrated when you’re trying to lose weight and haven’t seen the results yet. But be realistic – you won’t see the affect overnight. Your brain’s wiring plays a huge part in resisting changes in lifestyle, and it takes time to establish new habits – up to 12 weeks. Stick with it for at least eight weeks and you should notice a change."
3. Be realistic about which habits need to go. "When I was heavy, I'd eat French fries every single day, plus carbs at almost every meal—like a sandwich for lunch or bread with pasta for dinner. A diet so heavy in fried food and carbs just isn't conducive to weight loss. To lose the weight, I went from three large meals a day to six small meals, mostly made of fresh vegetable salads with lean meats and nuts. And no more bread!"
Most random item you'll find in my purse: a resistance band loop. 🤓#fitnessnerd I love that they're so easy to tote around, especially when you're training a client and want to take their workout to the next level. I also add them for a little *spice* in my barre classes. 🔥 🌶 Some of my fave loop exercises: Hip raises (in the pic above. Try it with one leg to make it more exciting) Low squat walks Clamshells Side leg raises Donkey kicks Hip extensions and banded burpees (

– My biggest “trouble spot” is the SPARE TIRE/BELLY I have acquired around my waist & upper “back fat.” I used to be incredibly disciplined about doing core exercises when I was (much) younger, as daily physical therapy for my scoliosis – But, I have allowed everything else to take priority (like kids, family, job, other “duties”). I feel selfish and guilty spending time just working out – helping myself. Any suggestions on (quick) CORE exercises/weight management?

Furthermore, when we studied 9 lean healthy young men and fed them first a ‘balanced diet’ for a week locked in a metabolic ward and then the exact same calories as a ketogenic diet for 4 weeks, they did not lose any body fat (only about 2 pounds of water) despite being consistently and strongly in nutritional ketosis. (Phinney 1983) And finally, the 10 low carb runners from our FASTER Study had been following a low carb or ketogenic lifestyle for at least 6 months (average blood ketones of 0.6 mmol/L); but while thin, none of them were continuing to lose significant weight (Volek 2016).

Fast forward to the present. In terms of weight loss, I have kept off those 50 pounds, but it took me over a year to find a comfortable weight. More important, I am not as focused on losing weight but on building lean muscle and getting toned. My energy levels, positivity, confidence, and purpose are more important than size and weight. In terms of nutrition, I prioritize eating wholesome foods and nourishing meals; and I am learning more about the ratios and best foods to fuel my body for my lifestyle. For exercise, I still consider myself a runner though and through, but I have struggled with some injuries. I tend to go super hard at the things I love, so I have gone in and out of working my body too hard. That being said, I have been mixing up my workouts with running (I have a destination half marathon planned for March!) and more lifting (thank you to Lindsay for all of the lifting plans!) and yoga (Yoga with Adriene is amazing.) I have also had an epiphany on self-care, but that’s for a different post. I am working towards real-deal peace and happiness. I’m getting fit, healthy, happy, indulge when I want, have confidence in what I’m doing and the choices I make daily, know my way around a kitchen, and listen to my body.
"If your diet consists of lots of sports drinks, sugar-sweetened drinks like fizzy pop and flavoured waters, or sugary foods like chocolate and cakes, it will make losing weight harder. While whole fruits and vegetables are undoubtedly good for you, they can also sometimes cause weight gain if you eat too much, as they have high levels of natural sugars in them. Low-fat food options might have high amounts of added sugar in there too, so make sure to check the food label.
I tracked everything from fat, carbs and protein. I was eating what I was suppose to and within 5 months, I dropped the remaining 10lbs. I did it, I met my goal! As of today, I am trying to maintain my weight, which in my opinion is harder then losing it. I get so afraid of putting the weight back on, since it’s so easy to lose motivation. Just because you meet your goal doesn’t mean you can go back to the way it was. That’s when I decided I needed to make this my lifestyle. I started reading up on healthy foods, different exercises, and I kept calculating my calories. I was a true calorie counter, every bite I ate, I tracked it. If I didn’t know the calories, I wouldn’t eat it. I was having allot of fun. I was exercising and maintaining my weight! Then it happened. Something was brought to my attention from my friends and family, I was obsessed they told me! Obsessed with what? Eating right and exercising? It was the calorie counting! People told me I’m not enjoying life if I calculate every bite. Can I do this forever? Well, maybe,I am pretty dedicated after all, but who wants to? I have learned so much over the past couple of years, about eating, exercising and most importantly myself. I have a lot of will power and I know how to be healthy, so I should be able to do this!!!!
Rather than training hungry, drink a protein shake before you go. One scoop, or about 20 grams, is sufficient. Whey is a great choice because it's easy on the stomach, quickly absorbed, and has an enormous list of additional benefits. Numerous studies have shown that ingesting more high-quality protein leads to both increases in muscle mass and decreases in fat mass.[8]
Don’t feel bad! Losing weight is hard! At least you have a Husband who is the food police! Mine tries forcing me to eat his fatty stuff and I have to restrain myself and say no, which is hard. The key is taking it step by step. I feel your pain! I tend to eat when I’m bored too and I am trying to break that habit! Just remember you are a strong woman and you can do it!!!! Start small! Go for a 10 minute walk, even march in place during commercials when watching tv, next thing you know you are getting in some exercise and maybe you can march for a whole show? Also, cut up some healthy veggies and grab those when you need to eat! Just think to yourself, you are doing this for you and you are worth it!!!
Lisa began Workout Mommy in 2007. Back then, she was a busy mom of two who found out that continuing her pre-motherhood commitment to health and fitness wasn’t as easy as she thought it would be. Now a single mother of four, she admits it’s even hard to find the time to commit to fitness. She writes her blog to inspire others to make that time, and holds herself accountable for finding it as well. Visit the blog.